There is evidence that the low-intensity ultrasound (US) can accelerate bone regeneration. This research studied the action of US in bone defect, created experimentally in the rat tibia under no load. Twenty Rattus norvegicus albinus, Wistar, divided into: G1 (n=10), experimental group of 15 days without suspension, and G2 (n=10) experimental group 15 days suspended by the tail, underwent osteotomy in both tibias and application of the US, frequency of 1,5 MHz, duty cycle 1:4, 30 mW/cm², on the right tibia by 12 sessions of 20 minutes. After the sacrifice, tibias were subjected to analysis of Bone Mineral Density (BMD). The results demonstrated BMD of 0.139±0.018 g/cm² for treated tibia, 0.131±0.009 g/cm² for tibia control in the G1, and the G2 had 0.120±0.009 g/cm² for tibia and 0.106±0.017 g/cm² for control tibia. There were significant differences between groups where G2 had lower BMD, which shows that the suspension affect the maintenance of bone properties. There was significant difference between treated and control tibia of G2, showing that the US has accelerated the repair process, concluding that the failure of a mechanical stimulus caused by not walking in a process of bone repair can be minimized by the action of US. G1, in the application of US, did not have significant influence in increasing BMD, perhaps because the animals have already sufficient mechanical stimulus to bone formation.
bone density; physical stimulation; osteotomy; bone regeneration
